Maxwell John Meyer is strong and determined -- has been his whole life. We know that God gave him that strength and determination to help him on his journey. Max was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia in January of 2009. He underwent chemotherapy in March '09 and had a bone marrow transplant from his baby sister, Ellee, on April 1, 2009. This is his story. God, please heal him and keep him safe.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Rough Day But Chemo's Over!!

Max had a rough afternoon today. His tummy was not cooperating with him at all. As we expected, the last chemotherapy today (called Melphalan) caused him to have major nausea and vomitting. But, the nurses worked hard to help him out with some nausea medication and he is in good shape tonight, resting comfortably now and watching his favorite show, iCarly.

The chemo preparation regiment is now over which is awesome! The effects of the three chemo drugs combined can be seen in the three major cell lines of Max's blood. His red and white cells as well as his platelets are all at very low to critically low levels right now as a result which indicates that his body should be ready to accept Ellee's marrow on Wednesday. Of course, that's what we are hoping and praying for! At this point he has not yet lost his hair but, that is still expected to happen over time (probably little by little over the next couple weeks). Max is ok with this and has been joking about it from time to time.

Ellee is feeling a little icky from her GCSF shots. She's had three of the five now and will have two more over the next two days. They can make kids feel achy since they are intended to spur the bone marrow to overproduce in preparation for the harvest on Wednesday. She'll come here at 7:30 am on Wednesday for surgery at 9:00 am that morning. Our families are all gearing up to help out that day and the next as they will obviously be momentous for all of us! Alex has big plans for some fun outings with Papi (Grandpa John, my dad) and Aunt Molly and her boys so that he won't have to feel like he's missing out on any fun down here at the hospital (ha, ha).

We are excited to be at this phase in the process and nervous, yet hopeful, about the next few weeks. Max will likely have his share of ups and downs as the marrow engrafts in his body and begins to grow but he has weathered everything like a champ so far and we hope and pray that this will continue.

We'll keep you posted over the next few days as things progress. Please keep those thoughts and prayers coming! They are making a huge difference for all of us.

Max,Michigan State is the Final Four and your bracket is getting close to the top in my pool. We are happy to hear that today is your last day of chemo. We will be thinking of you and Elle this week! Tell your mom we said Hi!!! Take care - be strong, The Nabbs

Thank you so much for keeping the info coming. I'll be sure to tell Garrett about Max being done with chemo. Garret had a story about Max over the weekend while at the Wilson Elem. Carnival, so I know that Max is still in Garrett's thoughts.

Hey Meyer Family,I am keeping you all in my daily prayers and Max especially that the transplant goes well. Tell him that I said "hello" and that I think of him daily. He may not remember me since it has been so long since we were in preschool. Also tell Max that I am glad that he still is a monster truck fan! Love and Prayers, Anne Fisher

I was just watching some of your videos and looking at some of your pictures again, and I love how funny and spunky you are. I know you're not feeling well now, and these next few weeks will not be fun, but you are so strong and you are doing so great!